National News

19 'Hotshot' Firefighters Didn't Have to Die: Report

by Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

(NEWSER) – Family members of the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighters who were killed in Arizona's Yarnell Hill Fire in July are struggling with the added heartbreak that their loved ones didn't have to die. A state safety commission ruled yesterday that state forestry officials made numerous errors; among them: They failed to give the crew sufficient safety equipment, didn't follow wildfire-planning rules, didn't withdraw the firefighters when they should have, and ultimately, put a "losing battle" over the safety of the firefighters, all in an effort to save "non-defensible structures and pastureland." The commission issued $559,000 in fines and penalties, including $25,000 to each of the families, the Arizona Republic reports.